Oklahoma Seniors Protected from Life Insurance Schemes In Senate Bill

Burrage: “Oklahoma will not be home to schemes that wager on human life.”

A bill that would protect Oklahoma senior citizens in life-insurance scams passed on the Oklahoma State Senate floor by a 43-1 vote today.

Authored by Senator Sean Burrage, a Democrat from Claremore, Senate Bill 1980 creates the Viatical Settlements Act of 2008 to protect senior citizens when in comes to purchasing life insurance.

He said there is a growing national trend where shady investors provide a financial incentive for a senior citizen to purchase a policy and agree to sign-over ownership of the benefits after a set amount of time has expired. The practice is called “stranger-originated life insurance” (STOLI) and is a contrived transaction designed to provide investors profits from the deaths of Oklahoma senior citizens.

“Today the Oklahoma State Senate helped protect Oklahoma senior citizens from financial predators by passing this bill which would outlaw these types of transactions,” Burrage said. “These investors are receiving the monetary benefit when a stranger dies. That is wrong. Theses types of money-making plots abuse the social purpose of life insurance, which is to protect families financially after the death of a loved one.”

Burrage said immoral investors are betting that the early demise of an insured senior will lead to a profitable pay day.

“We have a responsibility to protect an insured senior citizen’s benefits and to preserve the legitimate purpose of life insurance,” Burrage said. “Oklahoma will not be home to schemes that wager on human life.”